Never meant to be
by Missing Linka
Summary: It's the first story I've written in a long time ... It seemed that they were never meant to be ... But don't they deserve a second chance? Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

FanFic 100 Challenge #:: 060 – Drink 

**Never meant to be**

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in an old Irish Pub in a little suburb of New York, USA. Sipping his Whiskey (He missed the Fire whiskey he used to drink, but he was in a muggle pub, …), he tried to concentrate on nothing particular. He just wanted to get his mind cleared of everything.

When a song he'd never heard before was being played a bitter smile formed on his lips.

_Operator, number, please: it's been so many years  
Will she remember my old voice while I fight the tears?  
Hello, hello there, is this Martha? This is old Tom Frost,  
And I am calling long distance, don't worry 'bout the cost.  
'Cause it's been fourteen years or more, now Martha please recall,  
Meet me out for coffee, where we'll talk about it all._

_And those were the days of roses, poetry and prose  
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me.  
There was no tomorrows, we'd packed away our sorrows  
And we saved them for a rainy day._

_And I feel so much older now, and you're much older too,  
How's your husband? And how's the kids? You know that I got married too?  
Luck that you found someone to make you feel secure,  
'Cause we were all so young and foolish, now we are mature._

_And those were the days of roses, poetry and prose  
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me.  
There was no tomorrows, we'd packed away our sorrows  
And we saved them for a rainy day._

_And I was always so impulsive, I guess that I still am,  
And all that really mattered then was that I was a man.  
I guess that our being together was never meant to be.  
And Martha, Martha, I love you can't you see?_

_And those were the days of roses, poetry and prose  
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me.  
There was no tomorrows, we'd packed away our sorrows  
And we saved them for a rainy day.__**  
**_

Okay, he wouldn't be able to call her because Minerva like most – wizards and witches – didn't own a telephone, but – if he was only brave enough – he could contact her, he could send her an owl or he could even use the Floo Network to contact her.

He hadn't seen her for many years. The last time they'd met had been when she'd been in her early twenties, now she was in her late thirties.

Since he'd told her that he was too old for her and that she was so young and that there were so many years for her to learn and to do before she would be ready to settle down and become anyone's wife, he'd never again dared to contact her. Not even when he'd heard about her marriage. He'd really been happy that Minerva had found someone. Really. Unfortunately, it hadn't been him she'd married.

Of course, this was his own fault. When Minerva had told them in their last conversation that she wasn't too young and he– time after time – had told her that she had no idea what she was talking about, she'd said that she could wait some years, travel around for a while and then settle down, with him. But he hadn't wanted her to ruin her life by spending it with such an old fool like him, so he'd told her that he didn't want her to spend her life with him. That's when a lonely tear had escaped Minerva's eyes and she'd turned around and had walked out of his life.

He wondered if she would even recognize him if he would just appear in her fireplace. So he decided to send her a letter.

After some hours spent in his hotel room, wondering what he could write her, he decided that maybe a hot cup of chocolate and some lemon drops would help him to concentrate on his task. So he apparated back to Hogwarts where he drank three cups of hot chocolate brought by one of the house elves before he even started writing the letter.

When finished it, the sun was already spreading the first sunbeams of day over the grounds of Hogwarts.

Very carefully he wrote down her name on the envelope and gave it to one of his personal owls who flew away very quickly. Albus followed her flight until he could no longer see her.

Burying his head in his hands, he took a deep breath. Then he stood up from his desk and sleepily walked over to his private quarters where he directly went to bed and only woke up when – a few hours later – a little snow owl knocked on the window pane of his bedroom. He'd had the sweetest dreams because he'd dreamt about their time spent together so many years ago.

About one year after her graduation he'd incidentally met her at a little café in London where he'd been shopping for some last minute Christmas gifts.

Albus had recognized her immediately and had asked her how she'd been. She'd informed him that she was going to be an Auror and, at the moment, was concentrating on becoming an Animagus. They'd talked about a lot of things and in the end he'd invited her to the annual Hogwarts Christmas party.

It'd been in the wee hours of Christmas morning that they'd found themselves under the mistletoe and that had been the beginning of their relationship.  
They'd spent the next months together, enjoying each and every single hour spent together. He'd visited her at work and she'd been at Hogwarts every weekend. But nobody had known about them because Albus had been afraid about her reputation. She'd accepted it tacitly. He'd sensed that she hadn't been happy about them being a secret, but he'd only tried to protect her because he'd known that – sooner or later – their time together would end and he hadn't wanted her to ruin her name for some time spent with someone who could be her father.

So they'd had some wonderful months together, often forgetting that there were things outside of their little own world. They'd really packed away their sorrows. He'd focused on the time they'd been able to spend together, trying to forget about the fact that they wouldn't last forever.

On each day he hadn't been able to see her he'd sent her something. Sometimes it had been a wonderful poem, sometimes a little bit of jewellery and sometimes a simple red rose. He'd wanted her to know that she meant the world to him and that he was always thinking about her even if they weren't together.

Walking over to the window to let in the owl he smiled when he realized that he'd never stopped thinking about her. Not a single day in all these years had passed without him wondering what she was doing, if she was ever thinking of him.

After having read the letter, Albus almost jumped for joy.

She'd agreed to meet him.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a wonderful summer day. A little breeze let one forget about the high temperature and some clouds prevented the sun from burning one's skin.

Albus was sitting in a little café in London, the one where he'd met Minerva so many years ago.

The moment the door opened he knew that it was Minerva without having to look up. He could feel her presence. She'd always had this kind of aura around herself and he'd always known when she'd been in a room. It seemed that this hadn't changed although they hadn't seen each other for so many years.

When Minerva spotted him sitting in the corner, she walked over to him and shyly smiled at him. He stood up and greeted her by gently kissing her hand.

She even blushed a little bit.

Not a single silver streak of grey could be found in her hair and she almost looked as young and innocent as all those years ago although some little wrinkles were around her eyes. He wondered how she could still look so young while his hair was almost half grey and a lot of lines where everywhere on his face.

Albus wanted to say something, tell her how lovely she looked. But he thought that it would be inappropriate and so he only motioned for her to sit down.

They sat there in silence. Minerva watched Albus very intensely. He had aged – just like she had – but he'd only grown more attractive. The grey of some parts of his hair only accentuated the blue of his eyes who still looked as young as ever.

"I was surprised when I got your letter."

Secretly, she'd hoped to hear from him since she'd walked away after their last meeting. She'd almost written him hundreds of times, but she'd either destroyed her letters or hadn't even started to write what had been on her mind.

"And I was surprised that you agreed to meet me, my dear."

Had he just called her "my dear"?! Albus was afraid she would run away the moment the words had left his mouth, but she didn't seem to be upset. She even smiled at him.

Minerva had so missed his voice and his kind words. Just hearing him call her "my dear" like he'd done so many times in their past make her almost forget what had happened.

"There were no reasons not to see you, Albus."

"I thought you wouldn't want to see me again and that your husband wouldn't want you to meet me. By the way, how is he?"

"You care about my husband's opinion, Albus? You've never met him, you weren't at our wedding and you didn't even sent your congratulations."

She didn't sound angry. After all, it was just the truth.

"I thought it wouldn't have been appropriate to remind you on your wedding day of all the things between us. And I wasn't sure I could stand to see you getting married to another man."

Suddenly, she looked sad.

"Then I guess you're happy to know that my marriage has failed. I'm divorced, Albus."

"So am I …"

She looked up in surprise.

"I never knew you were married."

"Not many people knew about our marriage and it didn't last long."

"I'm sorry, Albus."

They stayed silent for some minutes, either being deep in their thoughts.

"So how are your kids, Minerva? I've heard that you've got two daughters?"

"Oh, yes. Katy is five and June just turned two a few weeks ago. They're wonderful. You would like them."

He was sure that he would love them if they were just a little bit like their mother.

Suddenly, Minerva had to laugh.

He questioningly looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Albus. But isn't it weird that we're sitting here talking like we've never been apart? We're being so honest …"

She paused for a brief moment, but Albus knew that there was more she wanted to tell him.

"I'm no longer angry that you've sent me away then … I guess I've always known that it was your way of being a noble man. You thought that I was young and foolish, that I had some kind of crush for you. But you were wrong, Albus. After you've sent me away, I cried for many hours and I didn't go out for a long time. One day, a friend of mine persuaded me to go out with her and that's when I met my ex-husband. He was a nice man. I soon decided that if I couldn't have the best man I should be satisfied with a good one. So I married him. It was a big mistake. I shouldn't have been content with not getting the best man. Don't get me wrong, Albus. I don't regret marrying him. If I hadn't become his wife, I would've never had my wonderful daughters. - But I've rather had them with you."

She sighed and then looked him in the eyes.

"Albus, why did you want to meet me?"

"Like you've said. I've sent you away to protect you. But now I see that I've really been wrong. But at that time, I was sure that it was for your best, Minerva."

He sighed.

"I'm sorry, my dear. I shouldn't have told you that I wouldn't have wanted you to spend your life with me. It was a lie."

"And I shouldn't have walked out on you. – But that's not what I've asked you."

"The truth is that I've missed you every moment of the last years. - Minerva, until a few minutes ago, I didn't know that you were divorced. If I had known I would have written you sooner. When I heard about your marriage, I thought you've found someone to make you happy. If I had known … I just thought we weren't meant to be although I've always wished that I was wrong …"

"You were wrong …"

"I know …"

Both fell silent once more.

Then Albus looked up at Minerva and put one of his hands on top of one of hers.

"You've said that I would like your daughters. Maybe I should meet them?"

She lovingly smiled at him.

"Maybe …"

**THE END**

_P.S. I know it's very silly and soppy and everything … But sometimes we just have to hope that, no matter how many wrong decisions we make, in the end we all get our happily ever after. _

_So this is for an old friend of mine who will probably never read this … Maybe it's my way to apologize to him for having hurt him so many times … _

_You know that I've never been sure about my feelings … and it's still the same … So I've decided to do everything to never hurt you again … _

_Here's the happy ever after we'll never have together._


End file.
